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THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE: 



BY 



/ 

E. Y. READ 



H I will incline mine ear unto the parable ; and show my dark speech upon the harp.''— Ps. xtiv. 4. 




Jto-Ucirk 



Printed and published by g. mitchell, 
No. 265 Bowery. 



1843. 



ft* 



arjjotiflljta fcota Scrfjitttr*. 



THE EXPULSION. 

A long- farewell, ye plains of Paradise ! 

Farewell, ye golden peaks, that now 

Put on the accustomed liveries of morn ! 

And thou, great Sun ! whose beams no more shall light 

A sacred solitude of love and peace ! 

And onward, all is desolate — no streams 

Of pure and sparkling crystal cheer the view : 

Not Eden's verdure paints the wilderness ! 

But even now behold, where he descends, 

The Angel of the Lord ! 

And not as once 
He came, with mild and calm beatitude : 
But girt with all the panoply of power, 
Out of the armory of God ; in his right hand 
The sword of terror flames afar — and on 
His brow, the lightnings of a wrath above, 
Are all reflected. See ! he motions now 
That we should haste ; and points our way 
Along those wilds, where towering Caucasus 
Is seen ; — and the dark Caspian's surging shores 
x\re sounding on the ear I 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



ABEL. 

Has the wide earth a wilderness so dark — 
A fastness so secure, as to conceal 
Me from this conscience? Oh ! it preys 
And burns within me like a torturing flame, 
And now forever calls down retribution ; 
Crying the name of Abel in my ears — 
Abel ! Abel ! I hear it in the wind ; 
And I, an outcast, shunn'd by all my race, 
Shall fly to hide the brandings of my crime : 
Oh, whither ? Earth beneath, and Heaven above 
Pursue me with the vengeance of their wrath ; 
All Nature points to Abel's bleeding corpse ; 
And here, even on this spot, in childhood once 
We played together. 

Oh ! the fearful sting, 
That arms death now, he had not once — 
The double curse is mine ; and all my steps 
Are red with Abel's blood ! 

But hark, it thunders ! 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



BABEL. 

The pile ascends ! — and elevates the fame 

Of Nimrod ! See, the strong" memorial stands, 

All co-eternal as the skies ! 

Aye, what 
Is life — is man ? A being, or a mere existence ? 
A conscience of the present, or the high 
Ethereal aspiration of a God ! 

Behold the power — the majesty of rule ! 
Yon thousands, that with prompt ascent, 
Climb the dark pinnacles of Shinar's tower, 
And look like pigmies in the distant height, 
Combine their fleshly energies, beneath 
The eye of one authority. 

Unknowing else, they live to make one great. 
The very infant learns to lisp the name $ 
And blushing maidens string their harps 
Unto my glory ! Even age is mute 
To hear me speak, and stoops as I go by ! 

But, list ! what clamor murmurs on my ear, 

And wakes the echoes of those galleries ? 

Is it acclaim ? or do ? they celebrate 

The anniversary of victory ? 

Nay ! nay ! another sound is waking now — 

Aye ! see — they arm ! 'Tis all confusion— Now 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



The arches ring* with battle. Oh ! 'tis power ; 

'Tis man's rebellion, and 'tis God's response : 

The assertion of His irrefragable 

And solitary rule ! As many as 

My slaves were, are my masters now — 

As many censors, and as many deaths ! 

Oh, to escape ! Oh, for a tower to reach the skies ! 

Where — where — shall Hope now build ? 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN. 

See ! yonder are the Cities of the Plain, 

In dark and ashy ruin ! And their smoke 

Is yet ascending* into the blue heaven, 

From whence Destruction rained its terrors down ! 

O, night of Death ! when Pride was pale with fear, 

And Luxury beheld its gloomy doom ! 

When Riot fell before the Almighty's shaft ; 

And Life was disenchanted of its hope ! 

Long will the journeying companies that pass 

This way, lament — remembering Sodom's fall ! 

There ! where once 
The weary camel, bending on his scorching way, 
Turn'd for repose — now rise the fumes of death : 
And that fair Sun, that rose each morn, to gild 
The glittering tops of fanes and palaces, 
Sheds its pale halo o'er a charnel-house — 
Where never mourner seeks a kinsman's tomb : 
And not a tear bedews the burning plain, 
Gomorrha stood ! 

O, visitation dire ! 
O, fearful anger of offended Heaven ! 
Here, on earth's surface, is the dismal mark 
Of man's impenitence ! And here, are all 
The characters of last despair ! 



8 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



Weep not ! 
Lest such a doom as overtook Lot's wife, 
Seal up thy pity in the wilderness, 
As silent as that monument of sin ! 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE, 



ISHMAEL. 

He faints ! Oh, Ishmael, my only hope ! 
My dearest boy ! 

Heaven ! save my son — he dies ! 
Here in the wilderness — exiled and lorn ; 
Be Thou my succor and my staff ! 
Rise, Ishmael, rise ! — A little further on, 
And Providence, in mercy, may vouchsafe 
A fountain of salvation and of strength ; 
Alas ! Alas ! 

Far as the eye can scan, 
Nothing of hope is seen — an outstretched sea 
Of rocks and sand lays weary on the view — 
The red horizon, glowing with the heat, 
Sinks on the heart, and bounds the spirit's flight ; 
And Hope returns dejected to her cell ! 
Then, rest thee here, my son ! these gather'd herbs, 
Let me but lay beneath thy head ; and shade 
The Sun's rays from thy glassy eyes, 
Beneath their poor embowerment. Ishmael, 
The first-born of a royal sire — the child 
Of Abraham, the friend of God, farewell ! 
I cannot — may not wait, and see thee die ! 
Alone and wretched, let me steal away. 
She may do this, whose tears the depth 
Of all her misery, and her shame, 
Have dried up from their deepest source — 
The outcast Hagar may do this ! % 



10 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



MORIAH. 

Nay ! strike not — 'tis sufficient, Abraham ! 
I ask thee not for such a sacrifice ! 
Sufficient, that a father's heart has not denied 
His son — his only son. 

Stay ! — stay thine hand ! 
God will provide an offering for himself. 
O thou, of mighty faith, whose outstretch'd arm 
Is raised triumphant and untremblingly, 
Beholding God, and all his power above ! 
And from thy brow dispel the agony, 
Whose lines yet mark the contest of the soul ! 

Such pre-expectant faith as this had he, 
Who in the days of yore, beheld the flood, 
While a world slept unconscious of its doom ! 
And when its vengeance Heaven rained on earth, 
Rose safely on the wave ! The altar, see 
Where Isaac lies ! It is a type of things 
To come. For thus mankind, involved in sin, 
Bound to the wood and ready to be slain ; 
Shall find the Saviour near as is the ram, 
That struggles there — entangled by its horns, 
In yonder thicket ; yea, and in his seed, 
Shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. 
And now, I know, thou fearest God ; because 
Thou hast not disobey'd my voice — nor hast 
Withheld thy son, thine only son from me ! 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 1 1 



HARAN. 

The sun is setting 1 ! 
Here shall I rest my weary limbs. And here, 
From home — from kindred — from my country far, 
In the embrace of dark and silent Night, 
Let Sleep await the Morn ! 

And see ! the Heavens open — from whose gates 
Long flights of steps are leading upon earth, 
Crowded with glorious hosts of angels, all 
On various and important embassies 
Ascending and descending ! From within 
The courts of Heaven, distant music comes ; 
And as each angel passes at its light, 
Another radiance glitters on his wings, 
And seraphs' voices float in murmurs down ! 
Jacob ! behold — in long descent from thee, 
Thus shall thy race be among men — 
Amidst them shall the ministers of peace, 
And the proclaimers of God's word appear — 
Time shall not overthrow its solid pile, 
Until Jehovah shall Himself descend 
With His last message. Then the glorious way 
Shall dim and darken, as the son of him 
Who sleeps in Haran shall approach ; and night 
Shall close upon his steps when He ascends ! 
Though grey morn wake another world, as now 
It steals upon thy stony pillow ! 



12 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



BENJAMIN IN EGYPT. 

And doth your father live — 
The old man — he of whom ye spake ? 
And this, your youngest brother, whom to part 
With hath so grieved his soul, is not like ye : 
Another air ? and nobler aspect marks 
A different lineage, nor upon his brow 
The wear of care appears ! Is he, indeed, 
Your brother? 

Yes, well I know thee, Benjamin ! Thy hand 
Hath not conspired to perpetrate their crimes, — 
Waylaid not Joseph on his errand : when 
To do a kindly office he was bent — 
Nor to a living burial dragged him forth ! 
No cowardly pity tempted thee to sell 
All Nature holds most sacred, for the gold 
OfMidian! 

Aye ! it still reflects itself 
Upon their glassy travel- wearied eye — 
Did IshmaePs conscious smile awake thy heart, 
And drop each burning piece upon thy soul ? 
Or say, doth still the silver cup awake 
Thy fears? — What target stands so broad within, 
As to be pierced by such a wandering shaft ? 
O great Omniscience ! what discerning aim 
Hath so o'erruled our destiny — as now 
Beholds the hated favourite of his sire 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 13 



Great in misfortune to their common weal. 
Doth it some future mystery represent — 
Some great conception of salvation, when 
The outspread race of man, shall find 
An unexpected patron, in the unknown 
And friendless stranger ? 

Yes ! 'tis Benjamin, 
My brother Benjamin ! 



14 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



THE RETURN TO CANAAN. 

My son ! my son ! Or Israel, do thine eyes 
Weak and uncertain with old age, discern 
Aright ? 

Yes ! thou art great in Egypt ; 
The land to which thy brothers exiled thee, 
A Hebrew slave — has raised thee unto honor, 
And robed thy name and reputation with 
Respect ! 

To Joseph, he, on whom they laid 
Their murderous hands, they go for food and life ! 
And say ; is Benjamin, (who, next to thee, 
Is most beloved — the child of my old age ;) 
Is Benjamin thy brother well ? 

For thee, 
And thy misfortune, time hath heavily pressed 
Upon my failing limbs ! — Behold, my brow 
Is furrowed with the traces of despair ! 
Here, on my sunken eyes is lingering yet 
The glare of dark imagination's hue — 
Which saw thy dread calamity. 

'Twas night, 
When Judah rushed in wildly, as thou now, 
Bearing the terrors of thy blood-stained coat, 
And bleached a father's locks with anguish ! 

God, 
The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and 
Of Israel, bless thee ! 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 15 



Joseph (for on thee 
My tottering infirmities recline,) 
Now, to another land — another home, 
Where plenty lives, lead on ! lead on ! 
A little longer, and I go the way 
Of all mortality ! 



16 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



THE INFANT MOSES. 



Poor child ! how hath thy wakening* innocence found 

So cold a rest ? 

Take the young Hebrew up ! 

And she who laid thee in thy little ark, 

Her eye still watches o'er thee and is proud 

To look upon thee even here ! 

It is 

A mother's care ! Oh, in this life, but one — 

One common sympathy is there — Enough, 

It has a mother ! She of a despised 

And persecuted race : whose bondage seems 

To prompt but inhumanity's cold breath, 

To strip their abject nature of its last 

And deepest — most heart-searching* hope ! 

O, strange impiety ! O, violence 

To nature's law, what doth thy madness dare ? 

List, Pharaoh, then — 'tis what thou dar'st 

Not hear ! 

Aye ! in that sound, perchance may wake 

A thunder that will shake thy throne ! 

Shackles 

May bind the arms and manacle the feet — 

But are not on the heart ! Pride ! pride is there. 

The sunniest satellite that shines beneath thy favor, 

Wears not his manhood half so high, as does 

The slave that rears the monument, thy fame 

Denies thee ! 

Yes ! it is a mother's step ! 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 17 



ISRAEL'S BONDAGE. 

See yonder Hebrew on his patient way 
Towards the pyramid ! 

In abject chains he plies his daily labor ; 
And shall I — bound by the common ties 
Of country, kindred, language, name? Shall I 5 
A mere automaton in Pharoah's court, 
Stand silently and witness this? Forbid it, 
Heaven ! 

Perchance my father bends beneath the burden— '- 

Or she who bore me writhes beneath the lash 

Of some mean son of Egypt, who doth call 

Me "lord.'' 

For in some rebel province born, 

Report hath given me this humble origin — - 

That I escaping by a mother's care 

The massacre of all the infant males, 

Was found by Pharoah's daughter — 

Further, 
I know not — all is mystery ! Pharoah frowns 
Whene'er I touch upon a chord so bound 
Up in my every impulse, thought, and hope, 
'Tis wretchedness— but added to, by all 
The pomp and glitter that surrounds me here. 

Ye men of Canaan—slaves no more, arise ! 
Know, from that land we have derived 



18 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



Our first extraction, as we now our hope \ 
I saw the shackled hand that trembling drew 
The ancient manuscript out from its place 
Of secresy, nerve to display the tale : 
And fiery energy was written on that eye, 
Which spake another tongue, than words can utter. 

Who comes there ? Slave, let no one enter ! 
I would be alone ! I Meanwhile, bring hither 
Reeds and papyrus ! 

Voices are without — 
And I am overheard : and what if so, 
Our feelings will be loud! And louder yet 
Shall their expression be — Egypt shall cry, 
And Araby shall echo to their voice ! 
All Heaven shall witness when man asserts 
That he is Man I 

Again — conspiracy 
Is whispered ! Fly I must, and Israel, 
Be thou my refuge ! Pharoah ! be thou 
My adversary — Hope shall.never die, 
While the soul lives that gave it birth ! 

'Tis well! 
What news ! Doth the Nile rise yet? Is Thebes 
quelled ? 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 19 



THE NINTH PLAGUE. 

O dreadful darkness ! 

Where art thou, great Sun? 
And thou, soft Moon, with all the starry host 
Of Heaven? 

Earth wanders from the abodes of Light 
Into Night's silent chambers ! 

Isis ! wake : 
Canst thou not answer thine adorer's prayer, 
And send one ray into these aching eyes ? 
Thou, Priest ! what saith the oracle ? 

ONile: 
Father of streams, how flowest thou in dim — 
And dark — and death-like majesty ! 

Or ye, 
Who inhabitest its sacred shores — Orus 
And Anubis — refresh me with one star, 
That I may fix my eyes upon its light 
And die ! 

But even now, 1 stumble mid 
The tombs. Oh ! doubly full of horrors seem 
This house of our departed ancestry ! 
Egyptia ! land of sorrow, what strong Power 
Hath met thee in its vengeance ? What red arm 
Pursues thee with its arrows from above ? 
Ye dead— -thou, thou alone canst sympathize 
At such a time — thy dull lips are all rife 
With eloquence and consolation mute ! 
The cold ear is full patient ! Even these 



20 THOWHTS FR©M SCRIPTURE. 



Thy sombre cerements well appear to suit 
The rise of such a melancholy morn ! 
Hear'st thou the waitings as they come upon 
The bleak and fitful winds from Pharoah's palace? 
Ye trod those balls in hours of mirth and hope. 
5 Tis now another home for thee — the shroud 
Of Death is o'er the living \ 

Speak! who comes! 
Some wretched wandering son of Egypt, 
Seeking perchance a child— a wife — a friend ! 
But no ! another bolder step bespeaks 
A different object— some high officer 
Of state, I ween, attended by his guard, 
Goes his accustomed circuit ! 

Yet, 'tis not the tongue 
Of Egypt ; but in consultation deep, 
More nearly I distinguish them to be 
,The restless and rebellious Hebrews I 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 21 



THE RED SEA. 

The sky is blackening, and it lightens ! Stay f 
Pursue we them no further ! Israel's God 
Doth fight against us ! 

Hark, the waves 
Are bursting loudly on the distance — 
Yea ! see upon the right and left appears 
A fringe of white foam where the horizon stretches 
Itself, as far as Sinai's rugged base is seen 
Rising upcn the yellow coasts of Edom ! 

See ! Pharoah's chariot now is flying — all 
Misraim's host is in confusion ! Men — 
And horses broken from their charioteers, 
All madly rushing past ! 

And now again, 
The close waves rumor of their coming — Hush ! 
The brain swims as they curl around us ! Where— 
Oh where, is now escape — Ye deaf— and dumb — 
Ye powerless idols of the Egyptian ! here 
I last invoke thee ! Be our refuge midst 
The waters ! Stop the Red Sea's roar ! 

OHate! 
Even in death : the Israelite behold ! 
Afar, thou canst distinguish him, as each 
Flash shines above the waves ! He signs on high 
His followers in their triumph — 

Once raise then, 
O fellow soldier, thy last look — and die ! 



22 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



SINAT. 



Here on the silent brow of Sinai, 

While night enrobes the earth, and Heaven 

Is gemmed with stars — Here on this throne of Nature, 

Fit emblem of Almighty power, I seek 

The presence of the Lord ! 

Dark hour of awe, 
When angels offer up their holiest thoughts : 
And Prayer is mute in Heaven. When all aloft, 
The bright exulting band of seraphs swing 
The censers of their adoration ! 

And 
Beneath, the host of Israel in their camp 
Are wrapt in slumber — save where walks 
The solitary watch, counting the hours 
Till morning. 

Around, and afar there lies 
Like an unending load upon the eye 
And heart, the outstretched solitude 
Of Sin's inhospitable waste. 

O Great 
And merciful Jehovah, condescend 
To answer me, thy servant, from above ! 



THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE, 23 



THE GOLDEN CALF. 

Hark ! war's confusion rises on the ear — 
What madness hath o'ertaken Israel ? 
But no — 'tis not the sound of triumphing-, 
The shriekings of the vanquished are not there ! 
The notes — they are of revelry, are strange; 
And hymns unholy make the echoes jar ! 

Alas, the Idol ! Father, now appears 
The fountain of thy sadness, whose unknown 
And silent agony has held the mute — 
And moistened all my steps. 

But oh, let not 
Thine anger kindle at the sin. Remember ; 
God hath revealed His overseeing Power, 
And hath beheld the foul rebellion, 
Before thy mortal eye hath frowned upon it 1 



24 THOUGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE 



NIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS. 

The trumpet's signal sounds to march ! and lo ! 
The fiery cloud is moving- in the van — 
Rolling along in thunder ! Israel, 
Awake, and on ! 

It is the dead of night — 
Mother, my eyes are heavy : let me sleep ! 

Better it is to see the starry hours 

Of dark and solemn midnight pace o'erhead, 

And keep time with our fainting footsteps — than 

To bear the sun's distressing load by day. 

Already have the Levites with the ark 

Passed on ; and now the solitary bell 

Of Judah's foremost camel strikes the ear. 

Arise, my son, we journey to the land 

Of promise, where our great forefather's lived ; 

Abraham— -and Isaac — and Israel — 

But see ! It is a dreary wilderness : 
When shall our wanderings be past ? 

I dreamed 
I saw a band of holy cherubim 
Bearing a cross in the skies ! And she s 
My sister, whom we left upon the sands 
Of desert Sin, was there. 



&$t Wvanw of iUTicmntion. 



11 1 have Binned agsinst Heaven and before (bee, and am no more worthy to be called thjr eon." 
Si. Lukb, xv. 18 — 19i 



26 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 




CHORUS OF THE FALLEN. 

The stars may be effaced, 

And Night may scale the Sun ; 

The winged Hours may rest, 
And Heaven's race be run. 

But Fate knows no repeal, 
And Time knows no return — 

The Earth flies on its wheel, 
And trembles to its bourne ! 

But still with hollow footsteps, what 

Sheeted spectre starts, 
The echoes of dark Thought, 

Through our immortal hearts ? 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 27 



Image of what to be? 

What fond thing" 
In dim Futurity, 

Doth tempt thy restless wing ? 

All free to roam, 

As wide and far, 
As Earth has a home : 

Or Heaven a star ! 

When old Nile sleeps 

In shadeless light — 
On the icy deeps 

Of the northern night. 

Hark ! what tempests on high 

Are answering loud : 
Whose thunders reply, 

Like the voice of the cloud. 

Yea ! see where Death, 

With fiery hair, 
And burning breath, 

Brightens the air ! 



28 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION 



DEATH. 

Yield thou Earth ! 

EARTH. 

Deeply through my frame 
A shuddering* horror runs — I see no more ! 
Cruel tyrant, thy barbed arrow pierced 
My vitals. Oh ! the pain — the misery — 
It is intolerable : reach hither 
Thy red hand and relieve me — there, I rest. 
Chaotic and confounded let me lie, 
And feed upon the memory of the past ; 
Where, living in another life, I still 
May linger in existence ! 

DEATH. 

Canst thou think ? 
Or hath my quiver spent its arrows ? Rest then 
In the new being I have given thee ! Feel 
Thou art ! 

EARTH. ' 

But Oh ! the contest hath been long — 
The shadows of eternity fall one by one 
Upon me — and the droppings of my life 
Have marked Creation ! Take, Death, thy foot 
From off me ! 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 29 

DEATII. 

It is sweet to be victorious ! 

EARTH. 

Unsy mpathizing o'er the fallen ? 

DEATH. 

Yea! 

EARTH. 

Of the last remnant of my glory stripped — 
Locked in the stillness of profound despair: 
Help, ye Heavens ! Unbar the caverns of 
My soul ; where once thy pleasures crowded in 
Upon my sense — in things and shapes of bliss, 
Or canst thou not hear ? 

DEATH. 

Aye, it hears, and hath 
Beheld— unpitying ! 

EARTH. 

Heaven, hear my cries, 
And lend me thy assistance 'gainst my foe, 
Who hath prevailed to smite and cast me down ! 



30 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 



THE SUN. 



Whence comes the imploring voice — that reaches far 
Through all creation ? 



LIGHT. 

Is it not the Earth's ? 
From whence it comes, I know not. It is lost 

THE SUN. 

Not so —Search all the wide extremes of Night ! 
Some enemy hath o'ercome it. 

LIGHT. 

It is lost — 
I cannot reach it on my boldest wing. 
Lost irrecoverably ! 

THE SUN. 

Canst thou not ? 
There is that can. It is, and must be found ! 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 31 



EARTH. 



Unheard ! unheard ! 

REDEMPTION. 

Not so — I love thee. Love 
Can hear when Light itself is blind ! Stand off, 
My enemy ! 

DEATH. 

Who art thou ? 

REDEMPTION. 

Thou shalt know ! 
Arm — for from hence we fight : and either falls ! 
Aye, thou art wounded — 'twas the self-same arrow 
That pierced the Earth ! 

DEATH. 

Unslain and unsubdued ! 
I still shall keep my conquest ! Thou art strong, 
But Earth is weak — and serpentinely I 
Shall coil myself within its womb, until 
Thy creatures shall be mine ! 

REDEMPTION. 

Traitor ! 

DEATH. 

To whom? 



32 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION- 



LIGHT. 



Rejoice O Heaven ! The lost Earth hath been found ; 
Redemption's love hath solved the mystery ! 



. HEAVEN. 

'Tis His ! 

light; 

It fell by Death — beneath whose feet 
It hath been trampled. Once it was the pride 
Of Heaven ! It cried to thee. 

HEAVEN. 

My purpose is 
All deaf and dark. And now the wonder is 
For all the universe to look into : 
'Tis grand but 'tis inexplicable. 'Tis 
Such love as never hath been known by thee : 
Yet thou art sympathy itself— go view it ! 



Behold ! 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION, S3 

LIGHT. 
EARTH. 

I see ! 

LIGHT. 

Again thou'rt beautiful. 

EARTH. 

And happy ! I am loved — 

LIGHT. 

And love is life ! 

EARTH. 

I hear the voices of the singing* birds, 
And see the smiling skies all blue above : 
The fresh and rippling waters bathe my bosom, 
And breezes gentle float across my brow. 

LIGHT. 

I love to sit upon the vestal clouds, 
And watch creation ! 



34 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 



EARTH. 



Fruits and flowers send up 
Their incense into Heaven — The dawn is grand : 
The skies are orange, pink and violet ! 



THE SUN. 

Hail Earth! 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 35 



THE OVERFLOW OF THE WATERS. 

EARTH. 

I brought forth man and he is fallen — Death — 
Insidious Death is deep within me. Woe 
And misery eternal face me now ! 
Time clanks his hollow sounding chains — 
Whose leaden step is ever in my ears. 

DEATH. 

My name is Abel ! I 
Have done my worst ! Thou hast an ally : I 
Have also one — the Fratricide ! 

REDEMPTION. 

Abel liyes ! 
See'st thou not, O Earth, the wound of Death ? 
But fear — he hath an arrow still 
To rankle in the heart. 

DEATH. 

I still am powerful ! 

EARTH. 

Redemption ! Thou hast mightily disarmed 
Death of his sharpest dart. Canst not thy power 



36 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 



Divest him of the last ? His sway is still o'er all 
Man totters with infirmities ; and soon 
Sinks into nothing ! Even to the floweret, 
He breathes upon all hope and life — and lo> 
It languisheth and falls ! 

REDEMPTION. 

Falls to renew itself! 
And though he tramples upon every hope, 
Another Hope shall spring from their decay. 



DEATH. 



Hope — 'tis a dream ! 



EARTH. 



It seemeth so, indeed ! 



REDEMPTION. 



Earth, art thou still rebellious as when they- 
Tbe angels lost their first estate with thee ? 
Mortality is Death's inheritance : 
But Immortality is the great prize 
Which I have won but not as yet possessed. 
Man looks upon my glory — and beholds 
That which np angel ever hath conceived. 
Death : we meet again ! 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 37 



DEATH. 



I wish it not ! Darkness 



Delights me more. 



EARTH. 



The Sun goes down ! Alas ! 
Where shall I hide the body of my child ? 



THE SUN. 



What hangs around the Earth ? 



LIGHT. 

Death and his shadow 
Darkness ! 



THE SUN. 



Goes it to its burial ! 



LIGHT. 



Not yet- 
Eight remain, Faith enables it to stand ! 



38 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 



The foe hath fastened all its doors upon me — 
I cannot gain admittance. 



THE SUN. 

It is well ! 
As is the Power so mighty is the Faith ! 
Love hath a light that shines amid destruction ; 
The eye that found the lost star, watches it — 
The arm that won it can defend, and bear 
It up against the onsets of all foes ! 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 39 



THE DEATH OF DEATH. 



HEAVEN. 



The Earth must die ! It groweth still 
More wicked and profane ! 

DEATH. 

What hast Thou there 
That causes Thee one thought ? 

HEAVEN. 

Redemption ! 

DEATH. 

And, 
Doth it too die ? 

HEAVEN. 

Earth is condemned — Go, do 
The execution of my sentence there ! 



40 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 

REDEMPTION. 

Stand ! for thou comes t no further. 

DEATH. 

Earth is mine- 
Or Thou ! 

REDEMPTION. 

The Earth shall never be thy victim ! 

DEATH. 



It is the will of Heaven ! 



REDEMPTION. 



Do its behest ! 
Yonder the temple stands — We are on Calvary f 
Rememb'rest not, I said, we meet again ? 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 4l 



THE SUN. 



Heaven suffers— or the agonies of Nature 

Involve me ! All my limbs are palsied : 

My eyes are dim, as though it were with age ; 

And blackness wreathes my brows. Alas ! Alas ! 

Selene, my fair sister, where art thou ? 

I see thee not ! Amid the horrors of 

The night, thou ever wast my company : 

I loved to look upon thee and behold 

The milder image of my brightness. Wake ! 

And say what charm has bound thee in its chain 

Of darkness ! Dissipate this dreadful dream ! 



LIGHT. 



Where art thou, glorious Sun— 'Tis thy abode 
The home of splendor, now in mourning hung, 
Sheds sorrow o'er my heart — 



THE SUN. 



Sweet Light, I hear 
Thy voice ! Whence comest thou ? From what extreme 
Of wide Creation? 



LIGHT. 



I last left the Earth 
Where I have been within its depths — have seen 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 



And searched the mysteries of its womb I 
While all its graves have opened their cold doors, 
And given me admittance — Yea, their pale 
Inhabitants have waked, and walked in view ! 



EARTH. 

Light ! where art thou ? 

LIGHT. 

Here ? I ever stand in 
The presence of Great Heaven. Who doth call me ? 



I, Earth ! 



EARTH. 



LIGHT. 



See'st thou now thy darkness ? 'Tis 
Most horrible ! 



EARTH. 



It is the image of— 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 43 



UGH To 

Thyself ! Thy nature ! — which is lost 

And given to the power of Death. I am 

The want — Who knows me wants me ! Upon whom 

I shine; a day breaks which shall set no more, 

EARTH. 

I know not ! Heaven — Heaven hath forsaken me. 

LIGHT. 

Would'st thou, then, know me ? 

EARTH. 

Aye ! I thirst for thee; 
Let me but see the stars ! 



LIGHT. 



Thou shalt see more ! 



44 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 



EARTH. 

Nay — shine not ! Lo, the blood-spots are upon me ! 
And Heaven may view it. 

THE SUN. 

The hour is nigh accomplished ! 
I have worn out my pathway in the skies 
Through the long lapse of time unto this hour ! 
The Hour of Promise and of Hope ! Lhold 
The dial of thy life— What dost thou read ? 

EARTH. 

Darkness and mourning ! They are fit 
And seeming robes : I feel the chills of Death 
Creep over me, as when its dreadful power 
O'erthrew me first, and buried me in chaos ! 

DEATH. 



Again thy life is in my hands ! 



EARTH. 



REDEMPTION. 



Redemption 



It is finished ! 



THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 45 



EARTH. 



It is Redemption's voice ! 



THE SUN. 



It is the voice of Heaven ! 



DEATH. 



Then to the struggle ! 
It is the marriage day of Light and Darkness — 
Despair shall dance while loud Destruction wakes 
Her jarring thunders through the air. 



EARTH. 



The veil 
Is rent ! I hear the trampings of the conflict ! 
I hear Redemption's battle-cry, " The Cross !" 



THE SUN. 



And hark ! What shouts and noise of triumphing 
There is above ! Canst thou hear, Earth ? 



EARTH. 



Yea, for 
Death's mighty body falls upon my bosom ! 



46 THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION. 



HYMN OF THE STARS. 



Angels now descending* o'er us, 
Leave their mansions in the sky — 

Joining in a joyful chorus, 
Lute and harp and psaltery ! 

Over Heaven's summits marching 
Through the deserts of all space ; 

Towards the dark dome overarching 
Our eternal resting place. 

Hark ! the song of triumph ringing, 
Opens Heaven to the sight — 

Angel voices ever singing 

Welcome to the realms of Light ! 

Linked by bonds no power can sever, 
Higher than Hope's highest flight ; 

On the wings of Beauty ever 
Circling through the infinite ! 

Wider now, the echoes breaking 
Through our vaulted halls on high : 

Bear the breath of Glory's waking — 
Lute and harp and psaltery ! 



Note.— The preceding Poem is an Allegory based upon the analogies of 
nature, as connected with, and shadowing forth our Future Hope, purchased 
for us in the mysteries of sacrificial love. 



Giuumtt ttpttttgi) ttje mith 



I.am the light of the world. 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 49 



RESURRECTION. 

But even now, the heaven-descended Soul — 
Its drooping pinions wet with mourner's tears — 
Is hovering- o'er the citadel it so late left ; 
Expectant on the Word which shall unbar 
Its iron doors — unseal the fountain, where 
The frosts of Death had chained the bounding- pulse, 
Which circled in its never- tiring* waltz, 
To the fond flowing measures of young Hope ! 
But hush ! — the instrument has found its sound i 
His touch wakes music slumbering in the air, 
And opes the windows of the soul in smiles : 
As when the tears of heaven brighten up 
Before Apollo's glance, and robe the storm. 
She lives ! she lives ! — the echo of that voice ! 
She heard the Word "Arise /" and only slept* 



50 GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL, 



THE JEWISH CHURCH. 

An image dim 
Of coming* glory : when in mid-day Light, 
Its types and shadows should all fly — 
And Faith should pass the Object on the wings 
Of years, and in long retrospect behold 
The beacon Light hung from the Throne of Grace s 
Till Gentiles should approach the Light : and kings 
Attend the brightness of its rising — yea, 
The Light is come ! his glory is upon thee ! 



PEACE. 

In front appeared with coronet en wreathed 
With olive — Ho, the bright-eyed Harbinger — 
Peace, wide proclaiming the approach of God 
Far as his clarion rang, the stars among.* 
A thousand echoes answered, "Peace on earth ! 
Good will to men !" 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL, 51 



REDEMPTION. 

Sorrow was on His brow, mingled with thorns ! 

Where, in the semblance of a crown, dark Hate 

Had wreathed herself to agonize His peace. 

And now, with sleepless watchings and the scourge,- 

With heavy care depressed, — His manly form 

Was robed (O, cruel scorn !) in regal pomp 

And purple mockery ! and in his right 

He held a reed, the representative 

Of mimic state, — who sways the powers of Hearen ! 

And is not this enough ? What deepest sin 

Has waked the ire of that barbarian hand 

To smite His unresenting cheek 1 What cause 

Most foul, has led so meek a majesty 

To suffer shame and spitting on ? What deed 

Has merited those bitterest of taunts, 

And sheath'd the venom'd arrow in His soul ? 

And canst thou not withhold this last revenge ?— 

Bending with misery — overcome with wo — 

But a few hours and on the streaming cross 

His weariness and pilgrimage is past. 



52 GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL, 



MERCY. 

But see ! — the angel winds are springing* up ; 
And waking Ocean wears a thousand smiles — 
Hark ! they come laden with the voice of praise, 
Which on their spirit wings is raised to heaven ! 
The Dove has found an earnest of her peace ! 
And says His mercy rests again on earth ; 
Love fills the air— and brightly from above, 
Heaven takes her gracious steps. 



LOVE. 

And scattering fragrance round her gracious steps, 
The rose and myrtle mingled on her brow : 
While all divested of her herself— she mused 
Of an unhallowed world ! In her right hand, 
With artless witchery, she bore on high 
The promises of Hope ; and Pallas-like, 
Upheld the egis of salvation — whose broad disk 
Bore the inscription, Faith : in witness of 
Her firm and earless mien — and truth undying ! 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 53 



x 9 



ATONEMENT. 



Conspicuous from the Cross he bore aloft 

Triumphant, (while its radiance streamed' 

Far through the empyrean : and wild shouts 

Of joy rose at the glorious spectacle,) 

The angel of Atonement, cypress-wreathed. 

With thoughtful pace and purpose high, appeared 

In blood-red vesture ! And his mood bespoke 

Sad care and deep responsibility. 

The insignia of mock royalty he bore, 

And Death was written on his marble brow, 

And Agony upon his bloodless lip. 

Upon his standard was the Curse inscribed, 

And angels bowed their knees to Man's Disdain ! 



CHRISTIAN HOPE, 



But she whose strong foundations are in heaven, 
Fears no contingency ; and her relationship 
To shadowy Hope of Earth is only held 
By distant ties, and the resemblance yague. 



54 GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 



POWER. 



But oh ! what magic armed that Word with Power- 
Bound the Tornado's strength, and chained the Seas ? 
While Echo stood attentive on the hills, 
To see what spell had smoothed the madness there, 
And rivetted her sister wave : what Word 
Had touched the chord, uniting in the air 
Nature's unseen and mystic sympathies ! 



COMMUNION. 

And there, behold, 
The lovely fruitage of the tree of Life, 
Once forfeited by man in Paradise ! 
By man, rebelious to the will of Heaven — 
Himself forever lost. — Till gracious Love 
Restores the holy boon, and reinstates 
Him from the depths of dark Despair and Death, 
To intimate communion with the skies ! 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL- 55 



THE JUDGMENT. 

Descending* in the clouds of Heaven, and 
Surrounded with the armies of the skies- 
Cherubim and Seraphim ! — Glorious, 
Most glorious His array ! Compared to which? 
The panoplies of earth, and all its splendor, 
Fade like the stars beneath Aurora's steps ! 
A crown encircled with the gems that glow 
In heavenly Golcondas, on His brow 
Caught Light, and dress'd her in a thousand hues f 
His snowy robe, bleach'd in the Sun of Heav'n, 
Turn'd Innocence to blushes. And His zone, 
Woven with gold more precious the Earth's, 
Paled the blue beauty of the firmament ! 

But hark ! had Music e'er such melodies- 
Heaven stands in wonder lost : — ■ whose angel choir, 
C haunting the minstrelsy of Triumph, throng his way ; 
While Echo from her cloudy throne responds ! — 
" Glory and Praise and everlasting Power 
Be unto Him, who cometh with His saints, 
To judge the world I" 



56 GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 



KNOWLEDGE. 

So He — the Light of Light — rose on the world— 

Upou incomprebending darkness rose — 

The darkness of the Mind ! While Nature knew 

Her ancient sympathy .... and quick as thought 

The rayless orbs caught brilliance from the sun 

In vivid attestation of the word — r 

The Sun of Righteousness ..." Receive thy sight /" 



JESUS WEPT." 



What meaneth it, that He should weep— 
Who broke the fetters of the Powers of Hell- 
Proclaimed emancipation to the tongue — 
And gave the imprisoned Light its liberty ! 
Whose word revoked the edict of the grave c 
And set the majesty of Death at nought, 
Who was the Resurrection and the Life. 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 57 



THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 

And now the first dawn of the God of Hope, 
Startles the sentinel on Zion's hill ; 
Where centuries have rolled, and only heard 
The Moslem calling at the morning's sun, 
On Allah, or the lying prophet's name. 
Where once the crescent in its native ray 
Alone was glittering, now the moon looks down 
Upon her Archetype, the Church of Christ ; 
And sees the Hope of Israel in the Cross ! 

Already are the unbound Angels rising, and 

The typical Euphrates drying up 

Its springs, to make the passage clear. 

Already has the blood-red signal past, 

That flamed from the Destroyer's path — He that 

With sword for pen, in characters of blood, 

Inscribed his Epic on Europa's page ! 

Already see ! the sea-sprung Hercules, 

Britannia's isle, like Christ's own pioneer, 

Armed for her hundred toils, is going forth : 

Lengthening the Church's chords, and fastening 

Her stakes upon the far ends of the earth. 

Aw^ake ! put on thy beautiful attire, 

And loose again the bands from off thy neck, 

O captive Daughter of Jerusalem ! 8 



58 GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 



FAITH. 

The last— the best— 
The only confidence and refuge for the heart, 
When taught by Disappointment to appraise 
The airy nothings of a changeful world. 
Here is the Soul's retreat, and tired Conceit 
Drops her vizor — and the gloom of Sorrow 
Falls to allow the lights of Heaven — Joy, 
Peace, Consolation, Hope — an easier glow. 

Here turns the Christian's eye : where mingle not 

The shades of doubt, its fair serenity 

To mar- — or leave its outline dark and dim. 

For when the soul's low aspirations lie 

Baffled and prostrate, Heavenly Hope will mount 

And mingle with the stars — her mighty charge 

To pilot safely into port at last ; 

In Him, on whom the Heart reposed its hope, 

The burden of its weakness and its cares ; 

On whom the more we lay, the more He bears — 

The more our sins, the wider is His shield. 

Who is that hope whose seed immortal was 

First sown in Israel — in the Church to germ, 

And bloom into the Tree of Life above ! 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 59 



THE SOUL, 



Tis 
The first step towards immortality. 
Even here the mighty change is being wrought 
Within us — Here our Incorruption tells : 
Eats, drinks, and strengthens into Life, 
And feels a self-existence beyond Time — 
Invests its nakedness in golden Robes, 
And seems at home within the Court of God ! 



THE SACRAMENTAL CUP. 

No fabled nectar here — 'tis angels 9 draught : 
Sweeter than fountains by Hymettus flowing ! 
But pause — and drink not ere thy thoughts repose 
On Him, who sanctified the generous grape 
With memories divine ! and clothe the soul 
In holy costume, for His presence meet ; 
Before whose Light the Seraph veils his face ! 



60 GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 



THE LIGHT OF BEAUTY. 

Without thee, all was chaos to the eye : 
Shapes beautiful are born beneath thy touch, 
Thou Light ! Divine enchantress of each rock, 
And ruin multiform, and orb and cube 
Complete. Clothed in thy living mystery, 
Nature embodies Art in her soft grace, 
Fast as the sculptor's chisel woos her steps, 
And binds her to Apollo's deathless form ! 

And so there is 
Within the mind a beauty only seen, 
Because alone transmitted by the eye 
Of Heaven — varied and ever changing as 
The sympathies of Light : but only three, 
Its elements — Faith, Hope, and Love — Colors 
Which mingle heavenly beauty when combined ! 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 61 



CELESTIAL HARMONY. 



Hark, yonder ! 'tis no earthly strain — for Love, 
Heaven's sweet Musician, takes her lyre ; 
And all her fondest harmony inspires, 
To aid their angel tongues. And Hope is heard 
To sing ; while all the enchanted air replies : 
And Joy assists to echo heaven down ! 



TRUTH. 

Brightness of Heaven ! from whom the constant sun; 
As its unfailing fountain, draws supply : 
And lends, in turn, a distant antitype — 
A feeble image of the same : so Thou 
Enlightenest all the Providence of God ! 



(32 GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 



THE INCARNATION. 



And He, the Man born in the flesh — and seen 
In this our body, bore the beautiful 
Expression of the Highest : and echo-like 
Descended, representing God above 
Invested with the glories of his church ! 



THE PASSION. 

Deep in the last removes of wickedness, 
The still beloved of Heaven lay entranced 
By Satan : and abandoned by that smile 
Whose last ray fell upon the brow of Eve, 
Turning a last and lingering look to bid 
A long farewell to Paradise and Heaven ! 



GLEAMS THROUGH THE ORIEL. 63 



THE CROSS. 

Our living and eternal Faith — For He 
That led the way, bore opposition down, 
Rifled his terrors and unmasked the foe — - 
Burst the dark barriers of the grave — and struck 
In twain the bondage of the iron Curse. 
He forced the Citadel of Hell to yield, 
And left its walls dismantled ! Hark ! 'tis lie 
Cries " On !" Then raise the standard high — 
Red with Redemption — brighter than the dye 
Of Tyre ! Pursue its echoes through the breach 
Where forlorn Hope expires beneath her Light — • 
Whose morning star sheds day upon the heart — 
Encircled with the armor of His Love — 
And fighting in the glory of His name, 
Our conquering Lord has won : His soldiers all 
Must follow fast — successive into Heaven ! 



THE ASCENSION. 



Then with our last and perishing existence, 
And wearing on his god-like front the badge 
Of condemnation ; He ascended far 
Beyond the palace of Orion and the skies, 
Where tl^e lost Pleiad holds her lonely court t 



64 €LEAMS THAOl/GH THE ORIEL. 



MUSIC. 

Roused by the spirits of the breeze, 

Her bass, the trumpet peal of Heaven— 

Her treble, Nature's melodies : 
And hark ! her anthem sung 

Amid the spheres, whose choral seven 
Dance to the witchery of her tongue. 

Her voices are a thousand strings, 

Whose Heaven-born bliss 
Awakes our bosoms from terrestrial things 
And Psyche upon angel's wings, 

Escapes to Paradise. 



ASPIRATION. 

So upwards to Hyperion's star, 

That sinks beneath the West ! 
Jove's Bird of war, 

To bathe his wings in seas of light, 

And catch the last rays on his golden crest, 
Leaves the dim shades of Night, 
And soars to glory in his lofty flight. 



LbAp r 31 



